New Hanover school board suggests sharing deputies

Tuesday

Apr 16, 2013 at 7:44 PM

Board member Derrick Hickey asked if the board should formally endorse an updated proposal from Sheriff Ed McMahon.

By Pressley BairdPressley.Baird@StarNewsOnline.com

Members of the New Hanover County Board of Education are recommending that the county’s elementary schools share sheriff’s deputies next year. School security wasn’t officially on the agenda at the board’s Tuesday work session. Board member Derrick Hickey brought it up, asking if the board should formally endorse an updated proposal from Sheriff Ed McMahon and questioning where the funding for that proposal would come from.The board decided to send a letter supporting McMahon’s new proposal, which would spend about $1 million next year to spread 11 sheriff’s deputies among the county’s 25 elementary schools. About $614,000 of that would recur annually, while $386,000 would be a one-time cost to cover equipment.If the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners approves that proposal, the deputies would show up in the sheriff’s budget, but it could mean the school district’s budget would be affected, said Superintendent Tim Markley.Following the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the school board decided to ramp the elementary school protection up for the rest of the year, asking the sheriff’s department to send over 24 additional deputies. That cost about $600,000, with the school board paying about $317,000, and the county handling the rest. In January, the board learned that it would cost $1.18 million to keep those deputies in all elementary schools for another year. Before the December decision, the district split two school resource officers among the county’s elementary schools. Each high school had two officers, while each middle school had one. That all came with a price tag of $467,151. McMahon’s updated plan came out of the board’s April 2 work session, when the board decided that it might not be necessary to have a sheriff’s deputy at every elementary school. Rick Holliday, assistant superintendent for student services, met with McMahon to discuss a minimum coverage plan to keep schools secure. In other news, the board approved new lease terms that would let charter school management company The Roger Bacon Academy use the former Lakeside High School building.Under the new lease terms, the charter management company would pay $54,000 a year for 15 years. The company had rejected the school board’s original offer of $72,000 a year for 15 years, filing a lease instead to rent the building for $1 a year for 30 years.